Evaporative cooler pad holder



May 15, 1962 D HOLDER wf( fw May 15 1962 A. E. SCHULZ 3,034,772

EvAPoRATIvE COOLER PAD HOLDER Filed Aug. 3l, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ""7@ZAM/5% 'f can@ United States Patent Oiice 3,334,772 Patented May 15,1962 3,034,772 EVAPORATIVE COOLER PAD HOLDER Albert E. Schulz, Fairleld,Conn., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New YorkFiled Aug. 31, 1959, Ser. No. 837,112 3 Claims. (Cl. 261-94) Thisinvention relates to evaporative coolers, and more particularly to animproved arrangement for holding an evaporative cooler water absorbentpad.

Evaporative coolers conventionally include a pad of Water absorbentmaterial through which passes the air which is to be cooled. Anarrangemen-t for securely holding the pad in an upright position so thatit does not sag and which also permits quick and easy replacement of thepad is especially desirable.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to provide animproved means for detachably holding an evaporative cooler waterabsorbent pad.

It is another object of this invention to provide a lowcost evaporativecooler pad holder having a minimum number of parts which may be easilymanufactured and assembled.

In accordance with one aspect of this invention, an inner wire frame andan outer wire frame are uniquely arranged for holding an evaporativecooler water absorbent pad. The inner wire frame includes two side Wallsdisposed generally parallel to each other and a front wall. The outerwire frame has a corresponding outer front wall and two divergent sidewalls. rhe water absorbent pad is disposed between the inner and outerframes. Protruding Wires extend from the side walls of the outer iframe.Thus, the divergent side Walls of the outer frame may be pushed towardeach other and then released to spring bias the protruding wires of theouter frame into engagement with the inner frame. By this arrangement, avery simple, yet eiective means, is provided for detachably holding anevaporative cooler Water pad.

Other obj-ects `and attendant advantages of this invention will beapparent from the following description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a4 front exploded perspective view of the improved evaporativecooler pad holder;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the improved holder;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the improved evaporative cooler padholder; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side perspective view of the improvedevaporative cooler pad holder.

Referring now to FIG. l of the drawing, there is illustrated theimproved evaporative cooler' water pad holder comprising an outer frame1 and an inner frame 2 with an evaporative cooler Water absorbent pad 3between the frames.

In constructing the inner frame, a plurality of vertical wires 4 may bewelded or otherwise secured to four generally horizontal wires 5, 6, 7land 8. The frame is then bent into a generally U-shaped structure toprovide an inner front wall 9 and two generally parallel inner sidewalls 10 and 11. Preferably, end portions 12 and 13 of the side wallsare reversely bent to extend generally parallel to front wall 9. Asshown in FIG. 2, the extent of the end portions 12 and 13 is determinedby the thickness of the water pad 3, As shown, the extreme ends of endportions -12 and 13, include end vertical wires 14 and 15, respectively,`for a purpose to be more fully described hereinafter.

The outer frame 1 is formed in substantially the same manner as theinner frame 2 and includes a plurality of vertical wires 16 which may bewelded or otherwise secured to four generally parallel horizontal wires17, 18,

19 and 20. The outer frame is also bent to form a generally U-shapedstructure having an outer front wall 21 and two outer side walls 22 and23; however, in its unassembled position as shown in FIG. l and by thedotted lines in FIG, 2, the side walls 22 and 23 diverge from eachother.

A unique arrangement is provided for connection of the frames to eachother and for maintaining the frames and the pad in a xed position. Asshown in FIG. 4 of the drawing, the ends of horizontal wires 17, 18, 19and 20 of the outer frame protrude some distance beyond end verticalwires 24 of the outer frame. These protruding wires are uniquely formedfor cooperation with the end portions 12 and 13 of the inner frame. Asshown in FIG. 4, the ends of wires 17 and 251 are bent toward each otherso that they may be positioned on the inside of horizontal wires 5 andS, respectively, to restrict vertical movement of the inner frame withrespect to the outer frame. In like manner, the intermediate wires .18and 19 of the outer frame have their ends bent toward each other so thatthey may be positioned on the inside of horizontal wires 6 and 7,respectively, of the inner frame. Protruding hooks 25 and 26 are formedin the ends of intermediate wires 18 and 19, respectively, for hookingover the inside of the end vertical wires 14 and 15. It can be seen thatthese hooks cooperate with the end vertical wires 14 and 15 to preventthe inner frame from moving horizontally away from the outer frame, and.the hooks cooperate with wires 6 and 7 of the inner frame `to preventthe inner frame from moving vertically with respect to the outer frame.

The above described construction facilitates manu-facture and assemblyof the holder and replacement of an evaporative cooler water pad. lnorder to securely position a water pad in the holder, it is merelynecessary to position the pad on the inner frame, locate the outer frameon top of the pad and push the side walls 22 and 23 of the outer frametoward the inner frame to compress the pad between the frames and toengage the protruding ends of wires 17, 18, 19' and 2li with the endportions 12 and 13 of the inner frame as shown in FIG. 3 and asdescribed above. Then the sides of the outer frames are released and thenormal spring bias of the outer frame holds the protruding ends of thehorizontal Wires of the outer frame in engagement with the inner frame.`It can be seen from the foregoing that the evaporative cooler water pad3 is sandwiched in a secure and reliable manner between the inner frame1 and the outer frame 2 so that it does not sag, ln order to remove thepad from the holder, it can be seen that it is merely necessary to pushthe sides 22 and 23 of the outer frame inwardly to disengage the ends ofprotruding wires 17, 25, 26 and 2d from the inner frame.

It should be appreciated that the improved water pad holder comprisesonly two parts, an inner frame and an outer frame provided withconnecting means integrally formed therewith. Thus, an exceedinglysimple, yet reliable, evaporative cooler pad holder is obtained.

While there has been shown and described a particular embodiment of thisinvention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that variousother changes and modifiinvention, `and therefore, it is aimed in theappended cations can be made therein without departing from theinvention, and therefore, it is aimed in the appended claims to coverall such changes and modications as fall within the true spirit andscope of the invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

1. An evaporative cooler pad holder comprising: an inner wire frameformed of a plurality of horizontal wires and a plurality of verticalwires, said inner Wire frame being generally U-shaped to provide aninner front wall and two inner side walls, each of said walls of saidinner wire frame having a generally vertical terminal wire, said innerside walls of said inner frame being generady parallel to each other, anouter wire frame having a plurality of horizontal wires and a pluralityof vertical wires, said outer frame being bent to form an outer frontwall and two divergent outer side walls, said outer wire frame being inoverlying relationship to said inner wire frame so that thecorresponding walls of said frames are generally parallel to each other,a water absorbent pad disposed between said inner and outer frames, theend portions of each of the side walls of said inner frame being bentoutwardly generally parallel to the front wall of said inner wire frame,protruding hooks formed in the ends of two of the wires of said outerframe, said protruding hooks of said outer frame extending through saidinner wire frame and inwardly of said terminal wires so that thedivergent side walls of said outer wire frame may be pushed toward eachother and then released to spring bias the protruding hooks intoengagement with the terminal vertical wires of said inner frame tosecurely hold said water absorbent pad between said inner and outerframes.

2. An evaporative cooler pad holder comprising: au inner wire frameformed of a plurality of horizontal wires and a plurality of verticalwires, said inner wire frame being generally U-shaped to provide aninner front wall and two inner side walls, each of said walls of saidinner wire frame having a generally vertical termina-l wire, said innerside walls of said inner frame being generally parallel to each other,an outer wire frame having a plurality of horizontal wires and aplurality of vertical wires, said outer frame being bent to form anouter front wall and two divergent outer side walls, said outer wire`frame being in overlying relationship to said inner wire frame so thatthe corresponding walls of said frames are generally parallel to eachother, a water absorbent pad disposed between said inner and outerframes, the end portions of each of the side walls of said inner framebeing bent outwardly generally parallel to the front wall of said innerwire frame, the top and bottom horizontal wires of said outer framebeing bent toward each other, protruding hooks formed in the ends of twoof the intermediate wires of said outer frame, said protruding hooks ofsaid outer frame extending through said inner wire frame and inwardly ofsaid terminal wires so that the divergent side walls of said outer framemay be pushed toward each other and then released to spring bias theprotruding hooks of said outer frame into engagement with the terminalwires of said inner frame and to position the top and bottom horizontalwires of the outer frame inwardly of the top and bottom horizontal wiresof the inner frame to securely hold said water absorbent pad betweensaid inner and outer frames.

3. An evaporative cooler pad holder comprising: an inner wire frameformed of four horizontal wires and a plurality of vertical wires, saidinner frame being generally U-shaped to provide an inner front wall andtwo inner side walls, said inner side walls of said inner frame beinggenerally parallel to each other, an outer wire frame having fourhorizontal wires and a plurality of vertical wires, said outer framebeing bent to form an outer front wall and two divergent outer sidewalls, said outer wire frame being in overlying relationship to saidinner wire frame so that the corresponding walls of said frames aregenerally parallel to each other, `a water absorbent pad disposedbetween said inner and outer frames, the end portions of each of theside walls of said inner frame being bent outwardly generally parallelto the front wall of said inner wire frame, a terminal vcrtical wiredisposed at the extreme end of each of the side walls of said innerframe, the top and bottom horizontal wires of said outer frame beingbent toward each other, the two intermediate wires of said outer framesbeing bent toward each other and protruding hooks vformed in the ends ofsaid two intermediate wires, said protruding hooks of said outer frameextending through said inner wire frame and inwardly of said terminalwires so that the divergent side walls of said outer frame may be pushedtoward each other and then released to spring bias the protruding hooksof the two intermediate horizontal wires of said outer frame intoengagement with the end vertical wires of said inner frame to positionthe hooks between the two intermediate horizontal wires of said innerframe and to position the top and bottom horizontal wires of the outerframe inwardly of the horizontal top `and bottom wires of the innerframe to thereby securely hold said water absorbent pad between saidinner and outer frames.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,335,428 Lofgren Nov. 30, 1943` 2,495,414 Herrington Jan. 24, 19502,517,998 Gilchrist et al Aug. 8, 1950 2,637,540 Rowe May 5, 19532,685,434 Underwood Aug. 3, 1954 2,850,269 Bohanon Sept. 2, 1958 FOREIGNPATENTS 541,380 Canada May 28, 1957

